1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organometallic polymer material which can be used in various coating materials such as an electric wiring substrate, a surface protecting film, and an anti-reflection film, optical communication devices such as an optical transmission and reception module, an optical switch, and an optical modulator, optical propagation path structures such as optical waveguide, an optical fiber, and a lens array, optical devices such as an optical beam splitter, and optical devices such as a lens, a microlens array, and a light guiding plate, and a process for preparing the same.
2. Explanation of the Related Art
Inorganic materials such as metals and ceramics are excellent in heat resistance, mechanical strength, electrical property, optical property, and chemical stability, and are industrially widely used utilizing their functions. However, inorganic materials are generally fragile and are high in a hardness and, in order to process into a desired shape, molding at a high temperature and mechanical processing become necessary, and their utility is restricted in some cases.
On the other hand, since organic polymers are excellent in moldability, and have flexibility, processibility is better. However, in heat resistance and chemical stability, organic polymers are inferior as compared with inorganic materials in many cases. Then, in recent years, organic polymers prepared from metal alkoxide as a starting material, called organic inorganic hybrid material or organic inorganic nanocomposite, are intensively developed.
In JP-A No. 2000-356722 and JP-A No. 2001-506372, an attempt to apply such an organic inorganic hybrid material to an optical waveguide was tried.
However, in any case, since a hydrolyzing reaction is performed using metal alkoxide as a starting material by adding water as a material as necessary by a process called the sol-gel method, water (H2O) and a silanol group (Si—OH) remain in a large amount in a material. In particular, since a silanol group is difficult to remove by heat or the like, it becomes a great cause for light loss mainly in an infrared region, and has great influence, particularly near 1500 nm which is an optical communication wavelength band.